City seeks input for plan update

SYCAMORE — Now is the time to speak up and tell city officials what makes Sycamore a good place to work and live, and how to make it better.

City Manager Brian Gregory will host two public meetings to discuss updating the city’s comprehensive plan. The first is set for 6 p.m. Thursday and the second will be at 10 a.m. Saturday at Sycamore City Center, 308 W. State St.

Mayor Ken Mundy urges anyone who works or lives in Sycamore to drop in, ask questions and offer suggestions.

“This is a public process,” Mundy said. “We want to hear from people living and working here. Ideas get stacked up on potential improvements; now is the time bring them forward.”

Gregory will facilitate the meetings, Mundy said.

“Our entire community is a stakeholder in the future of Sycamore,” Gregory said. “Everyone is welcome.”

Mundy explained that the city’s comprehensive plan, last updated in 2008, includes land use maps, zoning maps and the unified development ordinance.

“A lot of changes have occurred since the plan was last updated,” Mundy said.

The most recent plan places a lot of emphasis on land use maps because of projected growth, but Gregory said much of the planned development never materialized.

“We will still focus on land use, but this will also give us an opportunity to drill down on redevelopment opportunities,” Gregory said. “That might mean downtown, maintaining what we have or general infrastructure.”

Mundy said Sycamore has a lot going for it, but things could always be better.

“We’re not trying to be Naperville or Geneva or St.Charles,” Mundy said. “The struggle or challenge we face is to keep that small-town flavor while we’re growing.”

He said comprehensive is the key word in reviewing the plan.

“We’ll look at safety, land use, convenience, economic development – all the buzz words,” Mundy said. “We’ll also look at what makes Sycamore unique.”

Mundy said, even after the public meetings, the plan will be reviewed by the Planning Commission and adopted by the City Council.

“We won’t be in a hurry to lock this down,” he said. “We just want to get the creative juices flowing.”